Ski lift chair stabilizer



Aug. 19, 1969 A. MCILVAINE 3,461,313

SKIILIFT CHAIR STABILIZER Filed April 5. 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ALEXANDEE Mcll. VA/NE Aug. 19, 1969 A. M ILVAINE SKI LIFT CHAIR STABILIZER Filed April 5. 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 4L sxmvam mu Vd/NE gag/ti fffy Aug. 19, 1969 MQL VAINE 3,461,813

SKI LIFT CHAIR STABILIZER Filed April 5. 1967 L Sheets-Sheet 3 F- I 6 INVENTOR.

ALEXANDH? Melt VA/NE United States Patent 3,461,813 SKI LIFT CHAIR STABILIZER Alexander Mcllvaine, 131 E. 36th St., New York, N.Y. 10016 Filed Apr. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 632,139 Int. Cl. B61c 11/02 US. Cl. 104-473 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE One type of lift for raising skiers and others up mountains consists of a series of chairs suspended from a continuous elongated loop of cable. The cable passes over sheaves (rollers) mounted on towers. The chairs of the present invention are equipped with elongated members, preferably flexible rods. The rods pass between, or on the side of, guide rails affixed to the towers. The guides dampens the widewise swinging motion imparted to the chairs by cross-winds.

The present invention relates to ski-lifts and more particularly to a combined ski-lift and ski-lift chair adapted to be usable during cross-winds.

Skiing has, in the past few years, become a popular sport. Hills and mountain slopes have been cleared and developed into ski areas having engine-driven lifts. These lifts range from the simple rope tow to the costly cable suspended gondola. One of the most popular types of lifts consists of a series of chairs, for one, two or more passengers, which are suspended from a steel cable. The cable, in the form of an elongated endless loop, passes over sheaves (rollers) rotatably aflixed to towers.

Some of these chairs, due to the exposed location of their lifts, are subject to strong cross-winds, i.e., perpendicular to their line of travel. Such winds may cause the passengers to become ill, damage the chairs, and present the danger of injury to passengers. Such winds are a frequent cause of ski-lifts being temporarily shut down.

The problem of cross-winds is especially acute in those lifts using enclosed chairs, for example, of the type shown in my US. Patent No. 3,008,761. An enclosed chair presents a larger surface to the wind than an open chair and may tend to sway more. The sideways swaying of such chairs sets up a wave or harmonic action along the cable. At night, when the winds may be particularly fierce, the chairs which happen to be next to towers may be smashed into the towers and injured. It has been suggested that adding weight to the chairs would make them less subject to cross-winds. However, the added weight would require a stronger cable, stronger towers, a larger engine, etc., adding to the cost of the lift.

It is the objective of the present invention to provide a ski-lift having a plurality of chairs suspended from a cable in which the effects of cross-winds on the chairs will be damped.

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide such a ski-lift in which the damping mechanism does not add greatly to the cost of the lift and to the weight of the chairs.

In accordance with the present invention, a ski lift includes a cable, a cable driving engine, a number of towers, and a number of chairs suspended at intervals from the cable. The chairs are preferably'enclosed chairs having an attached footrest and operable over-head, as is fully explained in my US. Patents 2,662,587 and 3,008,- 761. An elongated member, preferably a rod, is secured to each of the chairs. The rod is itself flexible or may be spring-mounted. Preferably, the rod extends from the top of the chair assembly. A rod extending from the hot- 3,461,813 Patented Aug. 19, 1969 tom of the chair or a sideways extending rod may also be used. The rods cooperate with guide rails affixed to the towers. Preferably, the rails from a V-shaped lead-in for the rod and have an opening for the rod to exit at the base of the V.

If the chair is swung by cross-winds the rod will be pulled as the chair reaches a tower into the open arms of the V-shaped guide rails. The rod will flexibly swing from side to side within the guide rails and gradually, as the chair moves forward, its sideways oscillation will be damped. The chair will be caused to travel straight forward in a vertical position. The oscillations are not transmitted along the cable and the entire line of chairs remains vertical. At night, the rods and guide rails prevent the chairs from being swung into the towers. During the time the wind is blowing the chairs between towers may be swung, but they would move freely without damage.

Other objective and features of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of an embodiment of the invention which follows. The following description should be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side plan view of an enclosed ski-lift chair assembly according to the present invention, the dotted outline showing the shield and window portions of the chair in their raised position;

FIG. 2 is a front plan view of the chair assembly of FIG. 1 showing alternative mountings of the rod in dotted lines;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tower according to the present invention and the chair shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative tower for use with an alternative form of chair, also known in this figure;

FIG. 5 is a front plan view of another alternative form of chair assembly;

FIG. 6 is a front plan view of another alternative form of chair assembly.

An enclosed ski-lift chair assembly is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It consists of a chair body 1, a U-shaped frame 2, and a hanger 3a. The frame 2 is attached to the hanger 3a and the hanger 3a is attached by the pivot mechanism 3b to a wire rope cable 4.

The cable 4 is in the form of an elongated continuous loop. The cable turns around an engine driven rotating wheel, usually at the bottom of the lift, and a freely rotating wheel, usually at the top of the lift. The cable is suspended from towers and rolls over sheaves (rollers) freely pivotable on the towers.

The chair body is preferably constructed of three pieces; unitary seat and back 11, a front apron shield 12 and footrest 15, and a window 13. The seat and back 11 are preferably molded in one piece from Fiberglas plastic. The shield 12 is also preferably of Fiberglas plastic. The front shield 12 pivots on pivot members 17 attached to the seat 11. A T-shaped footrest, of metal tubing, is attached to the bottom of shield 12 or is attached to a metal frame supporting the shield. The top of shield 12 has a-gasket to support the window 13. The window 13 is a bubble, preferably of clear acrylic plastic. It also pivots on pivot member 17,

The chain body 1 is attached to frame 2 by joining bolts 18. The frame 2 consists of two vertical members 11a and 11b and a cross-member 10. The hanger 3a is secured to the cross-member 10. The chain 1, its frame 2, its hanger, and the pivot member 3b is called herein the chair assembly.

A pole 5 is attached to the top of the chair assembly.

As an alternative, the pole 5b is fixed to the top of pivot member 3b. The pole, unless it is bent by a guide rail, is aligned with the hanger chain assembly. As still another alternative, the pole 5c is attached to the top of cross-member of the frame 2. The pole 5 is preferably made of a low-friction relatively flexible plastic, such as nylon. In addition, or alternatively, the pole 5 may be mounted on a stiff spring 19, for example, a coil spring.

A tower for use with the chair of FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in FIG. 3. The tower consists of an upright vertical tubular member and a tubular cross-arm 21. A pair of sheaves 22a and 22b rotate freely on opposite ends of the cross-arm 21. A number of sheaves may be used on each arm. The tower may also be constructed of beam members. The top portion 23 of upright member 20 extends beyond the cross-member 21. A second cross-member 24, slightly longer than cross-member 21, is positioned at the top of top portion 23. Each end of the top cross-member 24 has attached to it a pair of guide rails. The guide rails are suspended from beam members 25a, b, c, d. Each guide rail 26a, b, c, d consists of a curved piece of steel. The beam members preferably have some spring, for example, they are of laminated or coiled spring steel. This permits some sideways motion. However, the spring is relatively stiff to provide for rapid damping. After-native constructors include fluid shock absorbers or other damping means and the use of a spherical bearing to mount the guide rails 26 to their beams members 25. As another alternative, the rails may be covered by an insulated or sponge-filled flexible cover to provide damping and cushioning.

Preferably, each pair of guide rails is curved outward at their entrance, i.e., in the normal direction of movement of the cables, as is shown by the arrows in FIGS. 3 and 4. They form a lead-in having a V shape open at the base. They may also be curved outward at the exit side. This forms a double V connected and open at their bases.

In operation, the pole 5 on the chair is brought into the open arms of the guide rails 26. The pole strikes the rails if the wind has tilted the chair. The rails damp the sideways swing of the chair and restore it to its normal vertical position. At night, if a chair happens to be stopped near the tower, its pole 5 will be within the guide rails 26. If the wind blows, the chair cannot be blown sideways into the tower. The pole keeps it about vertical.

The tower of FIG. 4 is similar to that of FIG. 3, except that it lacks the top portion of FIG. 3. The guide rails of FIG. 4 consist of one guide rail 27a and 27b on each side of the tower 20. The guide rails are mounted on heavy coil springs 28a and 28b. The chairs each have a bottom extending pole 29. Preferably, the pole, or at least its tip portion, is flexible or is flexibily mounted, or both. The flexible pole may be mounted on the chair assembly in a number of ways.

In th embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the chair assembly again includes the frame 2, the chair body 1, the hanger 3a and the pivot 3b. The tower has supporting member 30 attached near the end of the cross arm 21. This supporting member 30 has fixed to its bottom face a block of low-friction material such as nylon or polytetrafluoroethylene, such as Du Ponts Teflon. The block 31 serves as a safety device to keep the pivot mechanism 3b from being lifted off the sheave 22a. An extension arm 32 is also attached to the tower. This extension arm preferably is of tubular steel and is strong and yet somewhat flexible due to its long length and its curved shape. The extension arm 32 terminates in two support arms 33:: and 33b which project inward toward the tower. These arms 33a and 33b have at their ends metal plate lead-ins 34a and 34b, repsectively. The lead-ins may be spring-mounted on their support arms.

A horizontal extending pole is attached at the top of hanger 3a. Preferably the pole is a metal tube having a padding, for example, an inflated or sponge-filled flexible covering. She pole 35 projects horizontally from the hanger, that is, it is parallel to the cross member 10 of the frame 2.

The bottom lead-in 34b acts on the pole 35 when the chair is slanted towards the tower. The pivot member 36 acts as a fulcrum when the lead-in 34b acts to turn the chair to its correct vertical position. The lead-in 34b would also act to force the pivot member and the cable down into the sheave 220, which is desirable. However, the upper lead-in 34a may act to lift the pivot member 3b out from the sheave 22a. For this reason, the safety block 31 is used. Normally, block 31 is spaced from the top of the pivot member. It only acts on the pivot member 3b in the event that the pivot member lifted from the sheave.

An alternative to the use of lead-in 34a which may be used either alone or in combination with the lead-in 34b is a horizontal extending pole 36. Pole 36 is a flexible pole attached to the inward vertical frame member 11b. Pole 36 cooperates with lead-in 37 which is attached, preferably flexibly, to the tower.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the lead-in has been placed on the chair assembly. An arm attached to the tower cooperates with the lead-in in order to obtain the vertical position of the chair. In this embodiment, an extending arm 38, preferably having some flexibility, has an inward extending portion 39. An inflated ball 40, having a plastic low-friction surface, is attached on the end of portion 39. Alternatively, the lead-in 42 and 41 may be tubular members and the entire length of portion 39 may be covered With a low-friction cushioning material.

The chairs may be constructed having two horizontal extending poles, similar to pole 36 of FIG. 5. One such pole would be attached to frame member 111) (as is pole 36) and the second pole would be attached to frame member 11a. A large V-shaped funnel set of lead-ins would act on the two poles to stabilize the chair. The opening of the V lead-ins would be large enough to permit passage through it of the chair. Other shock absorbing and cushioning constructions, preferably of low-friction material, may be attached to the sides of the chair instead of the poles. Preferably, the lead-ins are positioned to act on the lower portion of the chair, so as not to have the effect of forchlg the cable off from the sheave.

I claim:

1. An aerial tramway ski-lift comprising,

an endless cable, a plurality of towers, guidance means rotatably mounted on each tower to guide the cable,

a ski-lift chair assembly suspended from the cable, said assembly including a seat member and a frame,

a pole attached to said chair assembly,

a plurality of guide rails, said guide rails being attached to at least some of said towers, said guide rails beng aligned at an acute angle to the normal path of movement of said cable, and said guide rails being positioned on the said towers to cooperate with the said pole to dampen the sidways swing of the chair assembly.

2. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein the guide rail comprises two elongated guide members separated by a dis tance and each supported by the tower, the entrance of the two guide members in the normal direction of movement of the cable being about V-shaped.

3. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein the pole is aligned parallel to the vertical axis of the chair assembly.

4. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein the chair assembly includes a frame having a cross-member and the pole is attached vertically to said cross-member.

5. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein the pole is horizontally aligned in respect to the chair assembly.

6. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein at least part of the pole is covered with flexible cushioning material.

7. A sk-lift as in claim 1 wherein the pole is of a flexible material.

8. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein the pole is flexibly mounted.

9. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein the chair assembly includes pivotable shield members adapted to form an enclosed chair.

10. A ski-lift as in claim 9 wherein the enclosed chair, when closed, has a roof portion and the pole is attached to the said roof.

11. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein the guide rail is flexibly mounted.

12. A ski-lift as in claim 1 wherein the pole is attached to the bottom of the seat portion.

13. A ski-lift as in claim 1 and also including a lowfriction safety block positioned above at least some of the rotating guidance means.

14. An aerial tramway ski-lift comprising,

an endless cable, a plurality of towers, sheaves rotatably mounted on each tower to guide the cable,

a ski-lift chair assembly suspended from the cable, said assembly including a seat member and a frame,

a guide rail attached to said chair assembly, said guide rail being aligned at an acute angle in respect to the References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,115,847 12/1963 Turner 104-173 3,170,412 2/1965 Sowder 104173 3,377,959 4/1968 Hawes 104173 FOREIGN PATENTS 348,125 2/ 1937 Italy.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner D. F. WORTH III, Assistant Examiner 

